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Genesis 25-50 minus Yosef. Yaakov tricks his brother Esav for the birthright, dreams of the ladder at Beit El, works 14 years for Lavan to marry Rachel and Leah, wrestles a stranger at the Yabok river and gets renamed Yisrael, "he who struggled with God." His twelve sons become the twelve tribes that name modern Israeli neighborhoods, regions, and synagogues.
Cultural note, Israel's name comes from this story: יִשְׂרָאֵל = "one who wrestled with God." It's literally the foundational identity claim of the country. The 12 tribes' symbols appear on the menorah at the Knesset and on stained-glass windows by Marc Chagall at Hadassah Hospital, Jerusalem.
Characters
The Twelve Tribes (in birth order)
Key Vocabulary
Modern Place Names from the Story
The Ladder Dream: Genesis 28:10-15
Yaakov flees from Esav and stops for the night at a place that he will name Beit El. Stones for a pillow. The ladder. The angels. The promise.
Wrestling at the Yabok: Genesis 32:25-31
The night before meeting Esav again after 20 years. A stranger wrestles Yaakov until dawn and renames him Yisrael. The site is called Peniel, "face of God."